Theo: Snickerdoodle Cookie Bites

This summer I took a look at two of the newish Cookie Bites from Theo. As I mentioned there, of the three flavors, the Snickerdoodle bites were the ones I had been most interested in trying back at their product launch. So even though I'd decided that this product wasn't really designed for me and my particular interests, I had to take one more look at the Snickerdoodles when they showed up on my store's shelves.

I do mean a brief look. The basic concept is the same here. The same style of packing continues, just with a warm, orange-brown color scheme instead of the cranberry and green. It's an easy choice to go along with the cinnamon sticks. The look is timely for me: it fits right in with the fall season of orange pumpkins and cinnamon-spiced everything. 

The cookie bites look the same as before, too, except that they're milk chocolate instead of dark. This is also what I was curious to try: Theo makes some of my favorite basic milk chocolate. The aroma is of super sweet milk chocolate, though the description says that this is their usual 45% milk chocolate. And it's also of strong, sweet cinnamon--much stronger than I would have expected. 

There is a crisp crunch to the texture, perhaps a tad more than last time. I'm not tasting any of the cookie dough flavor that I mentioned with the others. What I do taste is some milk chocolate and full, sweet cinnamon flavor. Lots of it. Forget Snickerdoodles; these are cinnamon cookies. Add some ginger and cloves and they could be gingerbread. I don't exactly eat Snickerdoodle cookies regularly, so maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I don't remember them being this strongly cinnamon. They're mainly sugar cookies with a touch of cinnamon, right? I'm going to venture out and say that these cookie bites will be too strong for some people.

However. I don't mind the strong cinnamon. I add cinnamon (and ginger) to oatmeal every morning. When I make hot chocolate, I add cinnamon (often ginger, too). I like gingerbread cookies. I like chai. So I don't mind strong spices, and I know I'm not alone in that. Even though I've said that the strong cinnamon (which, again, is sweet and not spicy) will probably be off-putting for some palates, for me I find it endears me more to these cookie bites. Whereas before I felt like I just wasn't the right audience for this product, these I'm enjoying, in a casual sort of way. A little hint of milk chocolate, a crisp crunch, and warm cinnamon make for a pleasant fall sweet. They're halfway between a cookie and a piece of chocolate, and turns out that's not a bad place to be.

Theo: Cookie Bites

We have some more casual chocolate candy today. Although they're still fairly new, I finally spotted Theo's less-than-brand-new cookie bites at my store recently. So here we have the Double Chocolate Cookie Bites and the Mint Chocolate Cookie Bites. The third flavor, Snickerdoodle, which I did not see, was probably the one I was most excited about. Maybe it'll turn up later; I don't think I would go out of my way to track it down. 

Theo is like a small batch chocolate maker with mainstream access and appeal. Their quality is good and simple, their chocolate bars are easy to find, and their prices are comparatively low. So it is with mixed feelings that I approach this new product. On the one hand, it's exciting: I keep advocating for better quality, candy tier options in the chocolate world. On the other, making mass-produced candies with a long shelf life is a deliberate, non-artisan-type choice. But I like Theo, so if someone is going to be making such products, it might as well be Theo, right?

The resealable bags come with a standard look similar to Theo's chocolate bar. A cream background is accented by either cranberry or green color. Not too many different colors or images going on, and the descriptions and logos are kept compact enough to not be too chaotic. 

Though they're not particularly exciting to look at, you will want to notice that the cookie bites are not covered in layers of shellac like similar products tend to be. So that's an immediate plus. The Double Chocolate bag opens up to the aroma of chocolate and cookie dough. I'm not sure how they manage that. Because it's more solid than I'd expected, the crunch of the bites is more like a crunchy cookie than soft, raw cookie dough. But it's a pleasant crunch that still has a light feel to it and helps to keep you eating more. Or is that just me? I do love crunching. 

Flavor-wise, the chocolate comes first. It's a 55% dark chocolate, so it's a standard, slightly sweet dark chocolate. Not overly sweet because, again, it's Theo. But properly sweet for a product like this: it's a lot like semisweet chocolate chips. The cookie dough flavor comes quickly in, as well, along with salt. Actually, it's quite heavy on the salt. I'm not complaining; most of us like salt. And the salt goes well with that crunchy texture. I'm not really a cookie dough person (so I will fully disclose that this product was not made with me in mind), but it's a good cookie dough flavor, as cookie dough goes. It somehow has that "raw" flavor that makes it distinctively dough and not just cookie bites. I can't compare them to the standard Cookie Dough Bites candy because I've never had them, but the ingredients are certainly much better.

Peppermint oil makes the bag of Mint Chocolate smell of Andes Mints and Thin Mint Cookies. In fact, if you happen to still like the idea of Thin Mints but you've outgrown the flavor of all that oil, these are a great alternative. The familiar peppermint overpowers the cookie dough flavors, so you're mainly just getting peppermint, sweet dark chocolate, and crunchy cookie texture. This is what I think Thin Mints taste like--until I taste one and realize it just doesn't match what's in my head. (Sorry, the Girl Scouts don't tempt me when they're out selling cookies. They really are very cheap cookies.) That isn't to say that these are the best mint chocolate I've ever had. No, they're still just chocolate candy. But they are a good example of what they set out to be.

Another thing I like about Theo is that they don't make a big deal about their ingredients--and yet their ingredients are better than some of the other "alternative" chocolate candies out there. The front of the bag just mentions organic and fair trade. The descriptions on the back just talk about the flavor. But when you look at the ingredients list, you'll see no palm oil and no artificial colors or flavors. There are also no eggs or milk either if anybody was interested in that. There is sunflower oil--but it's for the cookie part, not the chocolate. This is how candy ought to be. There's sugar, but the sugar and the sunflower oil are the closest to junk ingredients that it gets. Which means that, if you're into this style of candy, these are a great alternative option. They have better ingredients and yet still satisfy that specific candy craving.

Theo: Milk & Cookies Milk Chocolate

Theo has been leading the way in easily accessible, quality holiday chocolate products in the last few years. We have many of the familiar ones back this year, but of course I'm here to cover what's new. It's just one new addition this time, but that's okay: the same things can keep coming back year after year if they're good. The newbie this year is the Milk & Cookies Milk Chocolate bar. 

Given how satisfying Theo's milk chocolate is, the exciting part here was the fact that this is a milk chocolate bar. The milk and cookies thing I would wait to try out. But the milk chocolate was a good sign. Packaging presents that generic winter holiday look with greenery and presents and cookies and a mittened hand. It reminds me of politically correct "holiday" cards, even though the concept of milk and cookies around the holidays is a clear association with Christmas and the tradition of leaving milk and cookies for Santa. Though the mittened hand isn't a Santa hand, so even the mittened hand is like a little assurance that this is not a Christmas-specific product. But if we have so many fall foods nowadays that aren't associated with an individual holiday (so that they can be enjoyed for a longer amount of time), why not do the same with winter foods? (Well, not that it's winter yet, but the fall "season" ends with October even if autumn doesn't technically end until December.)

The chocolate bar is in Theo's usual eight square mold. On the back, the look is similar to a crisped rice chocolate, except that the lumps are little circles that are closer to the size of chocolate chips than to crisped rice. There is a rich chocolate aroma because, as I alluded, this is Theo's lovely 45% milk chocolate, which is not like an average milk chocolate. 

Instantly, there is vanilla taste on the tongue. The second thing I noticed that the cookie pieces aren't very crunchy. That is, they're fairly soft for being crunchy cookies and add a fairly light addition to the overall texture. I imagine part of the reason for this is that these are relatively fresh cookie pieces made with decent ingredients--as compared to the "cookies" that you will find in other chocolate products. Given that Theo's milk chocolate already comes with a strong vanilla richness, the added element of vanilla cookies means that the vanilla soars to new heights on the wings of the sweetened cocoa. The milk element of the "milk and cookies" seems to just be in the creaminess of the milk chocolate. After all, this definitely wouldn't have the right effect in dark chocolate.

I don't know that this chocolate bar reminds me so much of the milk and cookies concept. It's more like a mild inspiration. But vanilla is definitely nostalgic, which is the idea of referencing either leaving milk and cookies out for Santa or simply enjoying wintertime baking. Cinnamon is what, to me, tips references to baking into the Christmas/winter scene. But Theo has used cinnamon for the holidays before--and with this one it seems they were going for something simpler. I might add, too, that the simple flavor profile also means that this chocolate is also a safe choice for giving to children. I'm just enjoying mine myself, but it would make a good stocking stuffer, too, if you're looking for fair trade chocolate options that your children will enjoy. 

So even if the flavor isn't as winter-specific as some, this new milk chocolate is satisfying and would be welcome if it returned again year after year. 

Theo: Coffee Toffee 70%

I've been coming across plenty of coffee chocolate these days. There has perhaps been more milk chocolate than dark chocolate, so today we have a classic dark chocolate combination with Theo's Coffee Toffee in their 70% Dark Chocolate. The design is traditional Theo, with chocolate squares and coffee beans and toffee pieces set against a pale tan slash on a white background. Not only does the look balance out details and minimalism, it is also informative: toffee is one of those words that can mean a couple different things when it comes to chocolate bars. Here we know that toffee will mean crunchy toffee candy in small pieces.

The eight squares of chocolate have a simple dark chocolate aroma; there is only a bare hint of coffee. The suggestion, then, is that this will not be one of the strong coffee hit chocolates. Because I knew there would be texture from both the toffee and the coffee, from the start I knew this would be a munching chocolate rather than a melting chocolate. But you can still munch slowly: the crunchy pieces are small enough as to not be tooth-breaking or even much tooth-sticking. Large pieces of toffee can be that way, you know--though don't we love toffee, anyway? That said, there is still enough of normal toffee texture in here that you still have the entertainment of it. 

There is something of toffee's crystal sugar flavor in here, as well. You have that hint in the beginning part of each bite, and the coffee bean flavor comes in more towards the second half or even last third. And yes, it is specifically a coffee bean flavor rather than simply coffee flavor. Proportionally, it's mild within the context of other flavors, but in and of itself it has that stronger, sharper tone. The strongest coffee flavor, proportionally, comes perhaps in the aftertaste in that first moment after the chocolate has melted away. 

Theo's dark chocolate makes for a good base for all of this. They make a good and solid dark chocolate that still isn't too striking or full of flavor notes on its own--which means that it works well for flavored chocolate because you can enjoy the added flavors. Besides the fun element of its slight, sugary flavor, the toffee greatly enhances the texture. In fact, I do believe Theo may have found a creative solution here to the problem of coffee chocolate texture. I've done some exploring in reviews lately on different sizes of coffee grounds within chocolate. Grainy texture is usually odd, and sometimes even making the grains bigger seems to help. But in this chocolate, I can hardly tell what size the coffee grounds are because my mind thinks I'm just getting toffee texture. And that's great. I get fun toffee texture along with coffee flavor. It's quite a genius solution. 

In the world of coffee chocolates, here the style is not the latte-evocative, seamless blending of coffee and chocolate. That isn't the intended effect or goal here. Here we just have a nice dark chocolate with good texture and some coffee flavor. It's a nice option if you're less into the creamy/milky/latte type of coffee chocolate. I enjoy that style, but I like this one as well. Despite the bit of ingenuity with the toffee texture, this chocolate bar has a classic feel to it. 

Theo: Nougottohavit

Some things finish off better than they begin. That was the story for the last installment in my look at Theo's handmade confections. The name Nougottohavit, well, doesn't appeal to me. Such word play and word creation reminds me of the lesser, often short-lived (or at least less-liked) products from the likes of Hershey's (Whatchamacallit and such). So rather than putting me in mind of handmade chocolate or even just classic candy, it reminds me of cheapness. But it's just the name.

My doubts continued into the packaging, too, though. While the basic look is the same as it was for the Fremont Chew from yesterday, the magenta-raspberry (I could never be a fashion designer; I don't know my colors) doesn't give me the same vintage vibe. And this packaging, if anything, I found even more difficult to unwrap neatly (I like neatly): the outer wrapper had a glossy coat on it that didn't allow it to tear well at all, and even the foil had a sort of paper layer on its inside (versus being one layer that is foil on the outside and foil on the inside) that added a bit to the mess. However, the complaints end there.

Like the Fremont Chew, this chocolate bar is a little more stout than the average candy bar. This is dark chocolate instead of milk; instead of reversing the look and decorating it with swirls of milk chocolate, the top is simply designed with texture ridges. As with the Big Daddy Marshmallows, the candy slices open to reveal beautiful layering. The nougat fills in the top half of the space, while the caramel dotted with almonds sits in the bottom half. All four layers of surrounding chocolate are if even thickness. 

So based on the elements, this is obviously a Snickers-inspired confection. Just think of it as your best memories of Snickers, not as what Snickers actually is. The first bite is decadent: you get those lovely layers of soft nougat and chewy caramel. The almonds are nice and small so they add texture more than crunch; they seem to be more mellow than the peanuts in Snickers, if my memory serves. There is a slight saltiness in the mix, which doesn't taste like salted caramel; it tastes like the salt goes along with the almonds. That, in turn, keeps the almonds in casual territory; they don't feel like a "healthier" option or something like that. 

The dark chocolate is pretty mild, like in Theo's other confections. So what the dark chocolate here seems to do (versus if they had kept to the traditional milk chocolate) (and besides making it sound more posh) is to keep things from becoming too sweet or greasy. There is still plenty of caramel and nougat. The chocolate makes an envelope for the sweet elements and holds then in rather than acting as the main focus of each bite. I don't taste the nougat hugely on its own; the caramel is the star, with the nougat helping it show off (and adding to the texture, of course). The almonds are the sidekick to the caramel. It's a gooey caramel but not stiff and has excellent, classic flavor. While the caramel certainly couldn't hold the place that it does without its friends of almond, nougat, and chocolate, it's the one I notice most. 

So while my comments on the packaging were the opposite, I've been enjoying the Nougottohavit even more than the Fremont Chew. The theme is the same as it's been all week: better ingredients and a handmade quality make for a much better interpretation of a classic sweet. I'm rather sad to see the end of my week of chocolate confections, so maybe I'll look at some more casual chocolate bars in the next couple weeks before easing into the serious ones again. (Although Valentine's Day is also coming up, so it'll be time for me to get my yearly box from Valerie Confections soon--I guess I'm not done with the sweets yet after all.)

Theo: Fremont Chew

The fourth handmade confection that I'm looking at from Theo this week is a classic example of an upscaled candy bar. The Fremont Chew, described as marshmallow nougat enrobed in milk chocolate, takes its basic inspiration from a 3 Musketeers bar. Along with Milky Way, 3 Musketeers was one of my favorite chocolate candy bars (KitKat was the top). Soft, vanilla sweetness and chocolate. While I haven't exactly found myself missing them in the years that it's been since I had one, a chocolate reminiscent of such once-familiar chocolate candies is welcome.

With pastel colors and another simple design, we have a pretty and vintage type look. My minor complaint would be that I couldn't open up or tear off the outer wrapper without making a frayed mess; I like something a little neater, especially if I'm not planning on eating it all at once. The foil unfolds nicely, though. Like we've seen earlier in the week, the milk chocolate is decorated with darker-colored swirls for a classic confection look. That brings us decidedly away from mass-produced Mars candies and over to small sweet shops. 

The bar I would guess is about the same length as an average candy bar (they come in so many different sizes nowadays and I rarely ever buy them anymore, so I can't say for sure), just thicker. It gives off the aroma of sweet, vanilla-filled confections and marshmallow. The inside is certainly much more marshmallow-looking than I'd expected. I'd expected nougat with a twist, but the decidedly white filling looks more like marshmallow with a hint of nougat than the other way around. 

You can see that the top layer of chocolate was slightly thicker than the bottom or side layers due to the slightly rounded top. This doesn't negatively affect the bite, though, since milk chocolate is quite soft. Immediately on biting in, I got a nostalgic hit of Easter for some reason. It took me back somewhere I couldn't quite define. After contemplation, I believe I was thinking of the Easter egg malt balls. 

Here is why I would make that comparison. There is a definite marshmallow taste--but a specific kind of taste that is also somewhat chalky (I do love chalky candy) and still contains some of the standard nougat flavor. Along with the vanilla and nougat and marshmallow, though, there is another flavor. Although they still used sugar and corn syrup, there is also honey listed in the ingredients, and I believe the honey is responsible for this extra taste. It's a specific, rich flavor, and it seems to be what my mind initially connected to the malt of Easter egg candy. 

So don't worry that this chocolate tastes like those candies (though it's probably been at least a couple decades since I had any, I think it's safe to say that they're in a different quality level). The flavors are primarily gourmet marshmallow (handmade as opposed to grocery store) and sweet milk chocolate. Since it's Theo, of course, the milk chocolate is good even though it is sweet. The nougat has a particular texture that is perhaps what also added to my malt comparison. It's very soft and while it begins with the expected fluffiness, it dissolves when it hits the tongue. So each bite disappears pretty fast, and you are left with some milk chocolate to finish off. While I'm not a candy maker, I would guess that the use of honey might also contribute to such quick melting. 

In a way, this is the least exciting of the confections I've looked at so far this week. But once more, that isn't really the point. The point is simply to rework a confection with better ingredients and just a slightly different approach. The difference that the ingredients alone make is worth it. Like I said, I really don't buy 3 Musketeers or Milky Way anymore (that just isn't the type of product I want to support), but if I lived near Theo's flagship store, I could see wanting to stop in for this chocolate every once in a while. And the marshmallow twist on the nougat was interesting, not so unusual as to take away from the simple nostalgia but still enough to freshen things up. So yes, the Fremont Chew was another nicely eatable chocolate confection. 

Theo: Caramel Pecan Turtle

Day three of our look at Theo's handmade confections brings us to a classic sweet, the Caramel Pecan Turtle. While many confection shops will make these in simple cluster shapes, some will give a rough suggestion of a turtle design. And others use a turtle chocolate mold, as Theo does here. It may be that the taste is what matters most--but the turtle mold seems to me the most pleasing option of the three.

With such a cute chocolate turtle, there is no need for more than simple packaging. The turtle sits in a white box covered in a clear lid to let you look in and see it. A green-edged label with some teeny turtles finishes it all off. Even though you can see the turtle through the lid, I exclaimed anew at its cuteness when seeing it without anything obscuring it. Simple pleasures, simple pleasures. A chocolate turtle is one of these. Its size is of two or three truffles, so it's larger than the chocolate turtle that Zak's Chocolate makes. 

I perhaps ought not to have mentioned Zak's, as their turtles are pretty perfect. They took the approach of building the turtle around a whole pecan half. Theo, however, goes with a more typical approach by making a larger turtle filled with the pecans and caramel. The slicing open of the turtle revealed that the bottom layer of chocolate is much thicker than the top and sides. Biting into it, as well, the disproportion is a tad too much; too thick of a layer starts to intrude on the experience of chocolate and filling. 

The slight hint at a twist that Theo does is to use salted caramel to house the roasted pecans. Not too unusual, though, given the popularity of salted caramel these days: it's almost getting rare to find a caramel that isn't salted. The caramel is gooey with a classic salted flavor. It took front and center on my first bite, though my second did have more pecan. There I could taste their sweet and woodsy flavor. Hazelnuts may be the ones that blend so well into chocolate, but on their own pecans are my favorite nut, so a good chocolate turtle is welcome indeed. 

The turtle's feet have no filling in them, but the caramel does get slightly into its head. So you have a fair amount of opportunity to taste the chocolate, which is a mild semisweet dark chocolate. It's refreshing to have a decent dark chocolate used in a confection. 

My nitpicking about the thickness of the bottom layer is really the only criticism to make. A chocolate turtle is a straightforward concept, and Theo approached it as such. It's a tasty sweet that disappeared on me quickly. Life's simple pleasures. 

Theo: Big Daddy Marshmallow

Our second of the Theo handmade confections is the Big Daddy Marshmallow. In description, it sounds like it has more elements than yesterday's Lunar Pie did, but in its final state it is somewhat simpler. If the desired effect is to replicate campfire s'mores without a campfire and with some better chocolate and marshmallows, then the effect is achieved. 

There is certainly much more going on with packaging on this one. Of the five confections I ordered, this one has the most to look at before you even get to the chocolate. The outer sleeve is the color of a starry night sky, and using only white for both the text and illustrations means that they were able to pack in a lot of design and still keep a simple look to it. Well-done. Also notice that they don't use the words s'mores or campfire--it's all there in the imagery. One side of the sleeve shows off the four elements that compose this confection, while the other shows a mountainous territory with I suppose Bigfoot toasting a marshmallow on a fire. Trendy-cute-outdoorsy; it reminds me of all the little shops in Flagstaff. 

The sleeve slides off to a plain white box marked with the Theo label (which is what shows through the circle hole in the outer sleeve). The box is almost more like a jewelry box than a chocolate box; the feel is special. Inside under a thin cover are three marshmallows in their little square liners. They look like giant truffles in there; they're more the size of petits fours or chocolate-covered strawberries. Makes sense, though: graham crackers for s'mores are much bigger than truffles, too. 

While the blue sleeve had the least handmade style of the five confections, the chocolates definitely have it. The simple confection design of lighter colored swirls of chocolate on the dark surface puts in mind what you might find at a little, local chocolate confection shop. Except that since it's Theo you know that the chocolate will be good. (I don't mean to speak ill of little, local chocolate confection shops--but the ones I've come across don't always use the best chocolate to make their confections, or they water it down too much.)

It was easier than I'd expected to slice my knife into one of these squares. And I'm certainly glad I did: the four layers display in person almost as well as the do in the picture on the packaging. That's pretty rare, and I certainly wasn't expecting it with such gooey layers as marshmallow and caramel in there with the graham cracker and chocolate. Yet there they are, four distinct layers (well, the chocolate is on both top and bottom, so it's technically five layers, but you get the point). 

The marshmallow catches your teeth as you bite in, giving a delightful sort of snapping as it separates from the main piece. It's a little dense and chewy but not like the marshmallow of the Lunar Pie; this is more just the texture of a handmade, gourmet marshmallow (which, of course, it is) as opposed to one from a grocery store bag. The caramel adds in good flavor, especially towards the end when everything is almost melted out. 

In primary focus is the marshmallow, the chocolate and caramel seem to tie for second, and last comes the graham cracker. While graham crackers are a pretty big proportion of s'mores, I much prefer how it takes the backseat here. There is just a tad of crunch and graham flavor to ground the sweet, gooey elements. The chocolate is darker than your typical s'mores chocolate, and the caramel adds in a nice indulgence that helps to make up for the fact that nothing in here is melted as it would be in a campfire s'more. What's most fascinating is that, especially in the aftertaste, there is, however, something of a smoky taste. Whether it is in the caramel or the marshmallow or my imagination, I don't know. The molasses in the ingredients list may be what brings in that toasty flavor, but that's only speculation. 

While I'm not naming these marshmallow confections the "epiphany" that was the Lunar Pie, they remain delightful, extremely well-executed chocolates. The ingredients are good, and the flavors and textures are in balance--and so the effect is exactly as desired. 

Theo: Lunar Pie

Being that it's more difficult these days to have things to post about and being that my chocolate reviews are usually the most popular posts, anyway, I've decided to just roll with it this week and put up all my reviews of Theo's handmade confections in one spurt. Like I mentioned before, these are products that the grocery stores don't sell (like their chocolate bars). They are normally only available at their flagship store in Seattle, but right now you can also buy them online. While I rarely buy chocolate online, winter is my opportunity to do so (without it melting). So I was able to get five of these chocolate confections.

The first is certainly not the least. The Lunar Pie is a simple concept, that "twist on a familiar confection" type of thing. But what a twist it is. You can see that Theo's description is "fluffy chocolate marshmallow and cocoa nib enrolled in dark chocolate." Marshmallow and chocolate sounds pretty standard, but cocoa nib? That isn't at all common for use in this context. 

The pie is big for a confection, about the size of one of my little fists. So bigger than if it were a Hostess cake. Because that, of course, is the main inspiration for something like this. (Might I also recommend the No Name Cakes at Mod Pizza if you just want an indulgence.) Unwrapping the little pie is delightful; the very fact that it appears so simple makes it appealing. My knife cutting for the picture turned out better than expected: the marshmallow is denser than average and therefore holds its shape enough that the chocolate didn't crumble and the whole pie kept its shape. 

There is a chocolate ice cream look to the inside, both in its color and consistency. That feeling carries on somewhat even when you begin eating (minus the whole melting part, of course). The initial burst is unexpected--in a positive way. There is so much more weight of flavor than one might expect in a simple chocolate and marshmallow confection. 

The aroma is of melted chocolate. The bite is of that chocolate layer giving way to softer marshmallow. The flavor is of chocolate and marshmallow and cocoa nibs. The chocolate layer is dark chocolate that has good flavor on its own; it's somewhere between semisweet and bittersweet. But it's the marshmallow itself that gives the specific flavor of nibs; that rich, blue taste. I never would have imagined cocoa nibs and marshmallow together and yet the effect is delightful.

You have that richer, you could say more adult flavor of the nibs paired with the sweetness and playfulness of the marshmallow. So there is nothing bitter about the final product (which is also unusual about the use of nibs, especially where their flavor remains intact) and yet it isn't exactly sweet (confection sweet, that is), either. It is truly its own type of product. 

As I mentioned, the texture is denser than the average marshmallow. It's a little chewier, too. Almost more like nougat--which may have something to do with my positive comments, as I like nougat much more than I like marshmallow. But it does have the flavor of marshmallow, which makes for a unique and thoughtful effect. As fun as it is, I find that a little can go a long way. Even just a couple of bites have enough richness to satisfy. 

This piece is like an epiphany, a gift to the world of chocolate. Part of what I do when I review is to simply categorize chocolates (as opposed to saying that they're good or bad, or putting them on a star scale). But this brings together two categories: confections and gourmet chocolates. You can both sit and ponder it and indulge on it. A great way to start our week of Theo confections. 

Theo: Eggnog White Chocolate & Peppermint Mocha Milk Chocolate

Along with the Holiday Caramel Collection from Theo, I also have these two mini holiday chocolate bars. Whenever I come upon small chocolate bars (which, you know, isn't super often), I'm delighted. The one ounce or 25 gram size makes for an easy sampler portion if you're trying out lots of different chocolates at once (as I seem to be this Christmas). It also encourages savoring chocolate as something special. And small things are cute, yes? 

As I mentioned with the caramels, the flagship store confections that you can currently buy online have a slightly different look from Theo's grocery-store-available bars. Though the paper wrappers do have a Theo look to them, the bars inside are wrapped in sax paper with a clear stick seal. So there is definitely more of a handmade aspect here, which is especially welcome for a Christmasy collection.

Starting with the Eggnog White Chocolate, I found the tiny bar divided up into two halves. The style is consistent with Theo's standard bars, just shrunk down to the small size and therefore only broken up twice. You can get one bite or four out of each piece, depending on your bite size (I'm four). The white surface shows little speckles, which often in white chocolate will be vanilla but in this case there might be some cinnamon and nutmeg visible, too, perhaps. 

The aroma is creamy white chocolate and nutmeg. The flavor, too, develops with primarily nutmeg leading the spices; I don't notice the cinnamon as much. There is creamy richness from the white chocolate and the sugar. White chocolate uniquely out of any chocolate can give that thick flavor and texture of eggnog without too many added flavors. There is a warm spiced aftertaste, as well. So flavor-wise, this is a pleasant eggnog chocolate. Texture-wise, though, it is somewhat grainy, as white chocolate can sometimes be. That would be the one drawback. And I would of course prefer a little graininess to the texture than to have the, um, fake white chocolate that is made out of sugar and oil. 

Next we have the Peppermint Mocha, which is made with Theo's 45% milk chocolate. This time it's coffee that you can see within the chocolate. No surprises with the aroma here: it's coffee and peppermint and chocolate. The creaminess of the chocolate hits instantly on the tongue. Theo's 45% milk chocolate is, after all, one of the best milk chocolates out there. This is followed closely by peppermint and then by the coffee. There is a slight crunch from the coffee grounds but otherwise it's smooth. 

Because this is a milk chocolate, you easily have the cream/milk element as well as the sugar of a mixed coffee drink. The peppermint flavor here is slightly lighter than it was in the Peppermint Mocha Caramel because here there is more milk chocolate and that weighs more heavily on the flavor. So the peppermint stays dancing on the edges, enveloping your mouth rather than stays in the center of the attention. This is a latte with the tangy sweetness of peppermint added--or I should say a cafe mocha (because of the chocolate) with peppermint to it. On its own, I would probably have said it was a great peppermint mocha. But having tasted the caramel first, I would say that one made the imitation more closely. Coffee beverage effect aside, though, this is still pretty good. 

So once more, whether your plan is to give these as mini gifts, add them to a gift basket/box, have them as favors at a get-together, stick them in stockings, or eat them yourself, these are pretty little chocolate bars with classic winter flavors carried out with quality. 

Theo: Holiday Caramel Collection

Normally I don't order chocolate online. In fact, I usually try not to do a lot of online ordering in general (this year I keep making Shop Disney purchases but let's not talk about that, shall we?), and with chocolate, well, there is a whole world available online. It's enough to swim in, so I just keep things simple and stick to what I find in person (unless occasionally there is something I really want to order, like Valentine's Day chocolates from Valerie Confections).

This year is a little different, though. Theo has been offering this year some confection options online that they normally only sell in their Seattle store (usually it's just the bars that you see for sale in grocery stores all over). I'll have some of those coming up at some point after I get through the Christmas reviews. Naturally, being currently in the greater Phoenix area, I had to wait until the weather cooled down enough to order chocolate. So I also picked up three Christmas offerings from Theo, starting with this Holiday Caramel Collection box.

The confections that you might order from Theo have more of the small business, handmade look versus the polished, standard look of the grocery store bars. Not to say that these don't look polished, but you get my meaning. The box of caramels is red with white star outlines. There's a little To/From box on the side, all ready for gifting. To open, just slide the inner box out of the sleeve of the outer box.

Inside there, a dozen caramels sit in individual compartments. Little tabs of paper open up between each one so that they don't brush up against one another; it's a unique packaging design that I can't remember ever seeing before. It's also a great idea: it fulfills the purpose of keeping the chocolates in place without using a plastic tray. And it also somehow adds to the cuteness of the little rounded squares. They look like Christmas cookies all decked out in their sugar and icing. 

Sesame (Milk Chocolate) - This is the plainest of the four flavors; it comes decorated with just a couple of sesame seeds on top. While Sesame doesn't scream Christmastime to me, I started with this one because I figured it would be the plainest flavor and therefore would keep my palate clean for the others. Turns out, too, that it's a good way to start because the milder flavor really allows the caramel to shine. It's a chewy yet also quite soft caramel; there seems to be chocolate in it, as well. The sesame flavor came in from the start with its roasted, nutty, seed flavor. There was also a hint of salt. A nice and warm chocolate caramel to begin the set with.

Apple Cider (Dark Chocolate) - Here you'll find the full coating of sugar on top of the chocolate. That isn't a look I see--in fact, I don't think I've ever seen it. It's quite lovely and nostalgic. The sugar creates a delicate hint of crunch as you bite in. Then you discover a warm apple flavor together with the rich chocolate and the sweetness of the caramel. It's like biting into an apple pie. When I heard cider, I was thinking of alcohol, but this is like nonalcoholic apple cider, freshly pressed. The apple flavor is strong and fresh like baked apples. The dark chocolates is a fairly thin layer so it doesn't add a lot of flavor, but being that this is Theo I don't have the hesitancy around its use I've been having lately with some of the mediocre, sweet dark chocolates I've been coming across. This is good chocolate, so anything that it adds is positive. The overall effect of this caramel is excellent. 

Gingersnap (Milk Chocolate) - The icing for this one gives the effect of a gingerbread man, though I suppose gingersnaps are a separate type of cookie--and the taste is definitely different from a gingerbread cookie. There is some sense of other spices, but ginger is in the center. And while the chocolate and caramel are there, again it's the ginger that's the main player. It's a strong and fresh ginger taste, too--great if you like ginger, but for myself I would preferred more of a gingerbread flavor to simply ginger. 

Peppermint Mocha (Milk Chocolate) - A half dose of sprinkles decorate this chocolate's top; they are coffee grounds with a tad of sugar. Because the coffee is right there on top, you can taste it instantly as you begin to bite in. The peppermint comes next, then more coffee accompanied by the chocolate and its sweetness and creaminess. The effect, then, is much like that of a peppermint mocha. That is, a good one that's freshly made with peppermint and cream and not made from syrup. The aftertaste is, naturally, creamy, sweet, and slightly minty with light coffee. Absolutely lovely and an excellent representation of a peppermint mocha. 

I had no idea what to expect getting caramel chocolates from Theo, and I'm quite delighted with what I found in this set. The caramel itself was good, as was the presentation. As you can tell, the Apple Cider and Peppermint Mocha were definitely my favorites of the four. The latter I call the best of the box. For Christmastime and wintertime flavors, my palate found just the right indulgence in these caramels.

Theo: Coffee & Cream Cups

If Theo's Peanut Butter and Jelly cups weren't so much to my personal tastes, the Coffee and Cream Cups are much more so. Instead of medium dark chocolate, here we have the dark milk chocolate that Theo does so well, their 45% milk chocolate. Add a coffee center and it all sounds much like the Double Silver Latte Bar from Zak's Chocolate--but the comparison perhaps should end there because that bar is pretty flawless and stands on its own (maybe the better comparison, anyway, would be to the Coffee Break Bar?). 

Inside the package are the same familiar heart-shaped chocolate cups, just in a paler shade than last time. The aroma is of, yes, coffee and cream. Pretty straightforward. Inside each cup, you will see that there is a darker color for the truffle-inspired inside. 

The coffee takes half a breath to appear in the taste, since it is just inside that truffle-like center. It's strong but only for the barest moment--and comes with a slight, almost bitter taste. So it is good to have the milk chocolate to temper it with those cream and sugar notes. I would also add that this isn't a particularly strong coffee flavor overall. 

There is a smooth texture from the coconut oil that's used for that center filling. Here is one case where the use of coconut oil isn't to make the chocolate vegan: the outer chocolate is still regular milk chocolate, that is, with milk. Instead, the coconut oil is used in place of a cream product to give the chocolate a long shelf life (like what Alter Eco does so well with their truffles), as compared to using cheap palm oil or something like that. While generally this is a good method (despite all of my coconut oil bashing these days) and while it does contribute to a smooth texture, I find myself wondering if the somewhat bitter taste of the coffee is in fact due to the coconut oil. After all, it's listed as coffee infused coconut oil, further reinforcing the connection between the two. 

Potential coconut bitterness aside, though, these are good chocolates. They're a casual indulgence. While I don't drink much coffee, it's one of those flavors, like hazelnut, that pairs so well with chocolate--especially when you add a creamy element like milk chocolate. The chocolate here, while being that creamy element, is also stable and rich enough on its own that it makes for a good and solid base and keeps it all from becoming cloying. Like with the Peanut Butter and Jelly Cups, the Coffee and Cream are angled at being adult chocolate candies. 

Theo: Peanut Butter & Jelly Cups

I know Theo best for their chocolate bars, but they make other chocolate products, too. Now that the weather is cooling off, I should soon be able to place an order for some of their flagship confections (which they normally only sell at their storefront but are offering online this year). And I'm also finally getting around to some of their chocolate cups--which have probably been around for long enough by this point that they're not considered new anymore. I've had Theo peanut butter cups, of course, but today I have their Peanut Butter & Jelly Cups and I'll follow next with the Coffee & Cream Cups. 

The packaging maintains that simple and clean style that is Theo's norm, though in a smaller and more casual look for candies versus chocolate bars. Like with the peanut butter cups, these are two slightly-heart-shaped cups that sit directly on the paper tray; there's no need for a wrapper because they're not so greasy as Reese's Cups.

When I cut one of them open, I was somewhat surprised to find a barely noticeable amount of jelly hiding beneath the peanut butter. The little dash of dark liquid certainly looks nothing like the half-and-half of tan and red in the picture. But when does the real thing ever look like what the picture on front shows? Biting in, naturally I tasted the peanut butter and chocolate first, and then the jelly. Pleasantly, though, when the jelly comes (just half a beat later), it does hold its own. The balance is proper between the peanut butter and the jelly. It's also a pretty good balance of these two flavors with the chocolate itself.

For me personally, though, there remain two issues. One is that this is raspberry jelly, and I'm still not overly fond of raspberry. But the fact that this smattering of raspberry jelly turns me off is in fact a good thing: it means that it does taste like raspberry. This isn't some artificial/catch-all, berry/fruit flavor. And I suppose they chose raspberry instead of the more traditional strawberry to give it a very slight twist (I say very slight because raspberry would probably be the next most common jelly after strawberry, right?). 

The second thing is that this is 55% dark chocolate. While I greatly favor Theo's dark milk chocolate and I like their standard dark chocolate just fine, dark chocolate in that medium range in general doesn't win me over. This chocolate is sweet, despite being dark. If a chocolate is going to be dark, I prefer to just go with milk chocolate. The choice to use dark chocolate instead of milk (the regular peanut butter cups come in both dark and milk, but so far these are only in dark) is probably another way of trying to make this a nostalgic, adult candy. 

While, again, the balance of flavors here is great and the concept is fun, I would only buy these again in milk chocolate and/or with a different flavored jelly. Granted, this is a better sweet dark chocolate than many I've come across. And while the dark chocolate is an issue for me, for someone else it might be a plus because that makes it vegan while still maintaining the sweet, candy tone. 

Theo: Peppermint Cocoa Cups

In addition to the three flavors of chocolate-dipped marshmallows, this year Theo has also put out these Peppermint Cocoa Cups. While the cute and Christmasy box is still something you could give as a gift, the fact that these are individually wrapped makes them ideal for sneaking into gifts separately or stuffing stockings. I'm considering stocking stuffing their main purpose.

And I love that. You see, it isn't just a festive box; the wrappers are also fun. Sometimes the fair trade chocolates, well, they look like the "ethical" option. Which is sometimes okay--but other times you just want to blend in with what we're come to expect from holiday candy. The red label mentions the whole organic and fair trade thing, but the peppermint stripes add in the merriment. So your friends and family can see that this was an ethical choice, but they won't feel like you're trying to shove it in their faces that you bought the fair trade chocolate and wrapped their gifts (shampoo bars and loose tea) in old socks to save on wrapping paper waste. Do I digress? (And I'm not making fun of anyone who chooses ethical/environmental options. I do, too--but I also know that not everyone gets it.)

Theo's slightly-heart-shaped chocolate cup sits inside the striped wrapper. Right on opening, I wished that I could share the scent with you. A burst of peppermint, nice and strong and fresh. Especially after the, um, rather non-pepperminty marshmallows from yesterday, this minty burst was quite welcome.

Officially the labeling describes these cups as having a "creamy milk chocolate shell" with a "peppermint dark chocolate meltway filling." That sounds a lot like Lindor truffles--which is fine as those are always popular.

The chocolate has just the texture you'd expect. It's creamy and melty, in a different way from the usual chocolate way. How did they achieve that texture (which is also distinct from ganache and also must be able to have a long shelf life)? Coconut oil, like what Alter Eco uses in their truffles. No coconut flavor, just a soft and melty texture that is also not oily. If you're going to take this approach, coconut oil is a good way to go.

Taste-wise, the peppermint oil gives this chocolate a flavor like Andes mints, except that you can taste the chocolate more. I taste more milk chocolate than dark, so I'd put them on the sweeter side of the scale. They have just enough dark chocolate in there to keep the mint grounded. And yes, if you're looking for a peppermint chocolate product this winter, I'd definitely recommend these over the marshmallows.

They're good and they're a familiar flavor, so they're going to have mass appeal. This is something that can be great for kids and adults alike, for those who usually choose fair trade (aka. the person who buys them) and for those who just get regular candies (aka. the relative of the person who buys them who receives them as a gift).

So it's great to see something like this on the shelves. It's a good product made with good ingredients. Theo used something that they already make (the chocolate cups) and they gave it a holiday spin and they made it like something we as consumers already like (Andes mints) and so by putting all this together they made a product that is specific to Theo but also approachable. New and different but also not so different. The perfect stocking stuffers.